However Coventry’s Lewis Courtier-Jones is determined to look at the positives as he aims to come back stronger than ever later this year following a serious knee injury.

Courtier-Jones represented Team GB at the inaugural Youth Olympics in Innsbruck in 2012, finishing 14th in the halfpipe and 16th in the slopestyle while in 2015 he picked up his second consecutive British halfpipe title.

The brakes have momentarily been applied however to the 20-year-old’s progression after injuring his knee in New Zealand back in September.

Of course, when you throw yourself high into the air, executing complicated tricks before attempting to land successfully on a board, it is inevitable that injuries will happen.

But Courtier-Jones’ injury to his ACL proved more serious than initially thought and surgery followed with a return date now set for next April.

It’s a setback full of frustration with Courtier-Jones – an individual used to indulging in skateboarding and surfing when he isn’t and on the slopes– reduced to initially doing very little, although he admits there could yet be a silver lining to his plight when it comes to doing his rehab.

“I used to be quite lazy when it comes to doing gym work and I know as much as it used to help with your snowboarding, I never used to do it,” he added.

“So hopefully it’s going to make me do it and make me continue after when I’m fit as well.

“I’ve had a couple of injuries before but this is definitely the biggest one. In the weeks after the surgery I was allowed to walk but not much else – it was hard not being able to do what I love.

“But I want to come back bigger and better. I’ll be back about April, so I’ll plan to hopefully go to Australia or New Zealand and do some training there and get my winter back in the summer.

“That’s my main goal. Hopefully then I’ll do some World Cups towards the Olympics, which will be in 2018. That’s the long term goal.”

As a toddler growing up in the French ski resort of Courchevel during the winter months, one of Courtier-Jones’ earliest memories on the slopes is of his dad strapping him to a mini snowboard and pushing him down the hill.

What could have been terrifying for some, was a thrill a minute for a young Lewis-Courtier who, having attended a snowboarding camp aged ten, was selected for the British team and has not looked back since.

“The reason I started snowboarding was because my parents started doing it and we were out in the mountains with a holiday company and I just wanted to be like them,” he explained.

“I had a little plastic snowboard that my dad used to strap me too and push me down the hill. Since I was that age, I just loved to practise and wanted to continue. It’s great to be able to do something you love and represent your country at the same time.”